Fate: My Servant is Tom

Chapter 1: Summoning Tom

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Looking at his intact reflection in the mirror, the man pinched his face to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He muttered in confusion, "Damn, I'm alive? Did I really travel through time?!"

His name was Elric Bradley, which had nothing to do with his father's gaming skills. It was simply because his mother's surname was Bradley, so his father happily decided to name him Elric Bradley.

Just about ten minutes ago, Elric woke up late in the afternoon. It was already one o'clock. As usual, after lingering at home for half an hour, he prepared to go out and buy breakfast.

As a result, just as he was about to cross the road to the noodle shop opposite, a fully loaded truck suddenly stepped on the accelerator and hit him directly. It was hard not to wonder if it was deliberate.

But one thing was certain—Elric was hit head-on and killed instantly. It was only a matter of time before his consciousness was completely wiped out.

Just as Elric was about to be completely killed, a floating frame suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. It said something about going to another world to save it, but Elric didn't remember much of the details. To sum it up, he could either be resurrected to work for them or die on the spot.

In this kind of situation, was there even anything to consider? Elric decisively chose the former.

When he came to his senses, he found himself in a house whose owner he didn't know. Anyway, the owner wasn't home.

It didn't matter who the house belonged to. What mattered was that the body which had previously been hit and left with countless fractures was now completely intact, as if the accident had never happened.

To be honest, Elric still had a sense of unreality even now.

"So, I really came to the Type-Moon universe?" After digesting the information that had been forcibly instilled into his brain, Elric finally understood his current situation.

To put it simply, the world was in danger, and he had been forcibly recruited to save it and prevent its destruction.

Although… no one had explained exactly what was going on, which made Elric feel like a disposable pawn.

Still, the entity that had abducted him wasn't entirely heartless. At least it had given him the ability to summon Servants, providing him with some level of protection and ensuring he wouldn't die too easily.

After calming down a little, Elric asked tentatively, "Panel?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a floating display screen appeared in front of him. It was roughly estimated to be about 27 inches in size.

There were several very conspicuous buttons on the left, but only two of them were lit: Target and Summon. The rest were grayed out and unavailable, likely to be unlocked later.

After thinking it over, Elric didn't rush to check the summoning interface. Instead, he clicked the first button, Target.

The interface displayed two lonely lines of text:

Objective 1: Summon a Servant (0/1)

Objective 2: ???

Looking at the sparse objectives, Elric silently exited the interface and turned his attention to the Summon button.

The moment he clicked it, the panel disappeared from his sight.

In its place, a scarlet summoning circle quickly formed in front of him. It wasn't just similar to the summoning circle from Type-Moon—it was exactly the same.

"By the way, what's the summoning incantation again…? Well, it seems I don't need it," Elric muttered to himself.

Looking at the red summoning circle in front of him, before Elric Bradley could even utter the summoning words, the circle started operating spontaneously, leaving no need for him to do anything manually.

As the summoning circle functioned automatically, every line began to emit a glowing blue light, which started faint but grew increasingly bright as it rose upward.

Finally, the summoning circle dimmed for a moment before bursting forth with a dazzling pure white light at its center, like an explosion of energy. Elric, who had been observing the process, was caught entirely off guard and flashed directly in the face. It felt exactly like focusing on a sniper shot only to have a teammate throw a flashbang right in front of him, rendering him momentarily blinded.

Even though he raised his right hand to shield his eyes as quickly as possible, it was already a little too late.

After two or three seconds, as the intensity of the light gradually diminished, Elric's vision started to return.

At the same time, he noticed three blood-red marks had appeared on the back of his right hand—the unmistakable Command Seals that marked him as a Master.

In the center of the summoning circle, a blurry figure began to materialize. It was clear this was the Servant he had summoned.

However, something felt off.

"Isn't this Servant… a little too short?" Elric muttered to himself, a frown forming on his face.

Judging by the rough outline, the figure didn't seem to be even a meter tall. Its shape was odd, its silhouette unusual.

Elric rubbed his eyes for clarity and took another look. What he saw left him utterly stunned.

Standing proudly in the middle of the summoning circle was a large blue-gray cat. It held a golden trophy in one paw and wore an expression of smug triumph. Engraved on the trophy were the words: National Mouse-Catching Champion - Tom.

"Tom… Tom ... Tom?!" Elric stammered, staring at the cat in disbelief for several seconds before finally blurting out the name.

Hearing his name, the big blue-gray cat nodded vigorously, still holding the trophy aloft. His pride grew even more apparent with every nod.

"It's… really Tom…" Elric muttered, dumbfounded.

After a moment of stunned silence, a wave of excitement surged through him. "Yes! This is amazing!"

In this moment, nothing else mattered. Just summoning a Servant—any Servant—meant his survival was already far more secure than before.

Until now, Elric had been worrying. This was 1994, the era of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Without summoning a top-tier Servant, his odds of surviving, let alone saving the world, were slim to none. He'd essentially been in a quantum state of being both dead and about to die.

And then he summoned Tom, a living embodiment of absurd, invincible comedic energy.

As everyone knows, no matter how dangerous or powerful the opponent, funny characters exist in their own league. For example, Arale's nonsensical rampages in the Dragon Ball universe were legendary. There was no arguing with a funny character's bizarre logic.

While Elric was still riding the high of his newfound hope, a metallic sound came from the door.

"KusuoClick!"

The sound of someone picking the lock echoed through the room.

"Creak~"

The door opened slightly, and a man stepped inside, immediately meeting Elric's gaze.

For a brief moment, the two stared at each other in silence before the man, who looked surprised to find anyone home, broke the silence.

"Oh~, you must be the owner of this house. I'm Ryunosuke. Sorry to intrude…"

Elric's eyes widened at the name. He instantly realized who this man was. Without wasting a second, he pointed at the intruder and shouted, "Tom! Tie him up for me!"